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JASON ROBINSON,<br />
TIRESIAN SYMMETRY,<br />
CUNEIFORM 346<br />
STRATUM 3 / TIRESIAN<br />
SYMMETRY / RADIATE /<br />
SAROS / ELBOW GREASE<br />
INTRODUCTION / ELBOW<br />
GREASE / CORDUROY /<br />
COSMOLOGRAPHIE. 61:39.<br />
Robinson (ts, alto flt, ss), JD<br />
Parran (alto cl, c-bass cl, ts),<br />
Marty Ehrlich (as, bcl, flt),<br />
Marcus Rojas (tba), Bill Lowe<br />
(tba, btbn), Liberty Ellman<br />
(g), Drew Gress (b), George<br />
Schuller (d), Ches Smith (d,<br />
glock). February 9-10, 2012,<br />
Brooklyn, NY.<br />
New Issues<br />
141 | CadenCe Magazine | april May June 2013<br />
Jason Robinson is one of many accomplished improvisers<br />
and composers who, had he not spent so<br />
much time on the West Coast, would probably have<br />
more name recognition and fan response. His music is<br />
top notch, and he’s certainly worthy of more acclaim.<br />
For this, his second date for Cuneiform, Robinson’s<br />
writing for nonet is even more varied and assured. I’ve<br />
elsewhere referred to his music as Threadgillian, and I<br />
stand by that (after all, he’s got some Threadgill alums<br />
here - and anytime I hear some flute, guitar, and tuba<br />
together I still can’t help but think of Very Very Circus<br />
or Lenox Avenue Breakdown). But Robinson’s rhythmic<br />
complexity is his own, not quite so invested in mashing<br />
up genre as providing the group with structures dense<br />
enough for impact but loose enough for invention.<br />
From the first notes of “Stratum 3,” hearing Schuller and<br />
Smith interlock dazzlingly, it’s dealing.<br />
On the title track, Robinson combines the furtive<br />
texturalism of a Braxton piece with some righteous<br />
funk, Mingus swagger, and detailed exchanges between<br />
Rojas, Ehrlich, and Ellman. Perhaps even more effective<br />
is Robinson’s knack (as a composer and arranger) for<br />
letting the music breathe, so that the choice details<br />
can emerge: that glorious glockenspiel and guitar<br />
moment on “Radiate,” the pulse breakdown for flute<br />
and bass that pops up regularly, or the leader’s own<br />
exuberant tenor on “Elbow Grease.” Punchy, swinging,<br />
and impressionistic in equal measure, it’s hard to find<br />
anything not to love about this record. Great band,<br />
great tunes, instrumental range, and spirit.<br />
Jason Bivins
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